The most romantic sunset photo, voted by netizens, won the mysterious grand prize for the chairman couple – a Maldives island vacation sponsored by the investor.
When Bai Yin heard the news, she was as happy as a child. A free vacation saved them the cost of a honeymoon trip. This honeymoon was somehow owed to Li Chunfeng.
Li Chunfeng had also successfully completed his mission as a tool and dutifully played the "love rival" role in the reality show, and could now retire with merit.
When leaving, he took Bai Yin to the lakeside in the forest. Against the lush trees and mirrored lake, Li Chunfeng wore the fashionable layered sweater and work pants from their first meeting, holding a wooden guitar in his hand.
He gazed at her from afar and sang "Meeting You in the Summer Wind" with his guitar, formally bidding farewell to Bai Yin –
"I hope you can achieve your dreams, reach for the stars, and gain much happiness."
He gently plucked the strings of his wooden guitar, which gave off a gentle melody: "I have nothing good to give you. This song naturally came to me that night we met."
"Thank you, Li Chunfeng," Bai Yin said.
Li Chunfeng smiled lightly: "I remember what you told me before, you said you worked very very hard to make it look effortless, while my 'love at first sight' was perhaps precisely because I knew nothing of your past."
Bai Yin sat with him on a park bench, blowing the soft spring breeze, quietly listening to him speak.
Li Chunfeng put down his guitar and continued: "What I want to tell you is, these days, I went to your hometown, walked the land you lived, and ate the sour yogurt ice cream you ate as a child."
Bai Yin looked at him in surprise: "You went to my home?"
He gazed at the shimmering distant lake and smiled: "Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to ruin your family. It was my own problem. What you said to me...I wasn't too convinced, so I learned about your past, walked your old streets and alleys, and even met your old classmate...and on the way back, I re-examined my heart, my feelings for you."
"You met my old classmate? Who was it?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Did they say anything bad about me? I had a bad temper back then and offended many people."
Li Chunfeng leaned back casually on the bench: "He told me you were a very brave girl."
The breeze gently blew her hair by her ear. The corners of her mouth faintly pursed: "I see."
"Do you want to hear how I feel about you now?"
Bai Yin candidly said, "Of course."
Li Chunfeng glanced back at Chen Huaixiao observing them, then whispered something in Bai Yin's ear.
After finishing, he picked up his guitar and left along the gravel path by the lakeside.
Bai Yin got up to see him off and called out: "Little follower, leaving?"
Li Chunfeng waved casually without turning back: "Leaving."
His eyes were sore, so he didn't dare look back.
...
During their conversation by the lake, the camera for "Summer Romance" had been fully focused on Chen Huaixiao's face the entire time.
At first, the chairman was disdainful, watching Li Chunfeng play guitar, slightly irritated, even pushing the camera away.
But the cameraman was determined, focusing on Chen Huaixiao's frustrated and restless yet suppressed expressions over and over, making the audience roar with laughter –
"Chairman Chen looks indifferent on the surface but anxious inside."
"Chairman Chen: How dare they whisper to each other!"
"Chairman Chen: What can't I hear as the sponsor?"
...
Bai Yin came out of the woods and saw Chen Huaixiao leaning casually against a tree, his narrow eyes lazily eyeing her.
"Let's go back," she said.
Chen Huaixiao followed behind her, walking on the forest path, the dead branches and fallen leaves crunching under his feet.
Seeing Chen Huaixiao remain silent, Bai Yin took the initiative to break the silence: "So you're not curious what he said to me?"
Chen Huaixiao said in a low voice, "Not curious at all."
"Oh."
Bai Yin shrugged and didn't ask further.
After a while, seeing she didn't seem to want to take the initiative to explain, Chen Huaixiao grasped her slender, fair wrist: "Hey."
Bai Yin felt a slight sweat in the man's palm. Turning back, she laughed and said, "You didn't want to know, right?"
"I didn't ask," Chen Huaixiao still acted tough.
"Alright then," Bai Yin casually said, "It was nothing actually."
Chen Huaixiao waited a long time. Seeing she had no follow up, he called out somewhat anxiously, "Bai Yin!"
Bai Yin put her arm around his neck, her expression serious: "Brother, don't you trust me?"
"I trust you."
"Then that's settled."
"... "
Bai Yin let him go and walked briskly back to the villa.
Leaving Chen Huaixiao alone, looking slightly stifled.
Comments:
"Chen Huaixiao is really obsessed now."
"Objectively, Li Chunfeng...is quite a formidable love rival."
"Feel bad for Chairman Chen."
"Am I the only one who loves seeing Chen Huaixiao's suppressed expressions?"
"The wife slave role has been nailed down."
...
On the last day of "Summer Romance", the program team arranged a "Confession Garden" segment.
In the specially designed romantic arbor in the backyard, each couple conducted a final round of "heartfelt confessions" –
Things they hadn't told each other would all be confessed under the arbor.
The actor couple went first into the Confession Garden, holding hands along the long lawn path and rose arbor, slowly walking to the romantic Confession Garden.
The other guests could watch them from the balcony on the second floor of the villa, and also hear them through the microphones they wore.
Zhang Duo kept holding Lin Qianxi's hand tightly, seemingly a bit anxious.
Feeling the slight sweat in the man's palm, Lin Qianxi looked at him in surprise: "Dear, do you have something to tell me?"
Zhang Duo's Adam's apple rolled. He wanted to speak several times but couldn't say it when he saw the cameras.
Lin Qianxi gently squeezed his palm, looking at him as if asking if he had forgotten his lines.
For this closing confession segment, they had rehearsed every sweet, moving line many times. Each line was engraved in their hearts.
How could he forget his lines?
Still holding Lin Qianxi's hand, Zhang Duo pondered for a long time before finally mustering his courage to say, "I remember the first time I saw you, you were just an extra in the studio, walking along the red wall and black tiled path in your palace maid outfit. When I passed by, you glanced up at me."
Lin Qianxi looked at Zhang Duo in astonishment, unclear why he was saying this. It was clearly not their rehearsed lines.
Zhang Duo continued, "But even starting out as just an extra, you gradually let the audience see you. I remember our first scene together, that kiss in the rain. You were very professional, no NGs, one take. But I want to tell you, my heart raced so fast then."
Lin Qianxi looked at Zhang Duo in disbelief: "Duo..."
"Later we gradually got together, probably because we matched so well. From the start, our relationship was accompanied by the frenzied chase of shippers. So whenever we appeared in public, it felt a bit performative, as if we got together not because we loved each other but to make them happy."
He pointed to the camera mounted above the arbor: "But Qianxi, do you know, being with you, from beginning to end, I did it only for my own heart, not for them."
Lin Qianxi's eyes also reddened: "Duo, that kiss in the rain, my heart pounded like crazy too. Marrying you was also for my own heart. But I also feared it would inconvenience you, so...I never dared say it."
"Qianxi, let's stop acting tonight, okay?"
"Let's stop acting, Duo. We'll never act again!"
Zhang Duo hugged Lin Qianxi tightly, kissing the interweaving tear trails on her face.
The camera gradually blurred their figures, and the barrage of comments was filled with touches of tenderness—
"Waah, the star couple is so sweet!"
"Gotta watch this couple for the sugar rush."
"I'm really touched."
"My gosh, they're so perfect together!"
"I can't believe there was such a twist at the end! How amazing is that?"
"This couple is so lovely, it's so rare to see such genuine affection in showbiz."
...
Bai Yin was also deeply moved when she heard their words.
She had seen them rehearsing and acting out how to show affection in front of the camera many times, and thought they were just contractual spouses.
She didn't expect there to be such true feelings behind the scenes, that they actually liked each other so much.
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Bai Yin wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes and looked back at Chen Huaixiao.
Chen Huaixiao frowned slightly, looking at her as if she was an idiot: "What?"
"Aren't you moved?"
He was slightly disdainful: "What's there to be moved about."
"You heartless man."
"Thanks, always been this way."
"A man who's always been this way probably has nothing to say to me on confession night, right?"
"Do you have anything you want to say to me?" Chen Huaixiao asked back.
"I don't!"
"Then I don't either!"
Bai Yin huffed and went downstairs to welcome Zhang Duo and Lin Qianxi back.
But she didn't expect that the two of them walked past her laughing and chatting—
"That last segment was such a stroke of genius."
"The fans' reaction must be great!"
"My agent just called and said two more dating shows invited us."
"That sincere confession really maximized the effect."
Bai Yin looked at them in surprise: "You guys were just acting earlier?"
Lin Qianxi glanced back at the stopped cameras and smiled mysteriously: "The director said it'd be best to have a twist for the confession night, how was it, pretty good acting right?"
"......"
Bai Yin silently wiped away the remaining tear stains in the corners of her eyes, extremely speechless as she turned and went back upstairs to the balcony.
Chen Huaixiao's tall figure was leaning against the garden railing, the star lights in the bushes illuminating his handsome, sharp features, a knowing smile at the corners of his lips.
Bai Yin walked over awkwardly and stood next to him: "You already knew, didn't you?"
"Don't genuinely believe in any variety shows' displays of affection." After seeing so many truths and lies of the entertainment industry over the years, Chen Huaixiao said indifferently, "And definitely don't believe in dating shows."
"We're on a dating show right now though."
"That's why I've tolerated you interacting with Li Chunfeng for so many days without beating him up."
Bai Yin kicked him in annoyance: "You dare."
Chen Huaixiao had anticipated it and nimbly dodged.
"Then you being jealous is also just to cooperate with my acting and maximize the variety show effect?"
"I'm not jealous."
"Stubborn!"
Just as Bai Yin was about to leave, Chen Huaixiao pulled her back.
She wanted to push him away, but Chen Huaixiao held her slender waist very tightly: "Yin, going along with your acting is nothing. Even if you wanted the stars in the sky, I would hold you and help you pick them."
Bai Yin laughed: "The cameras aren't even rolling now, what are you acting out for me? The romantic confession segment hasn't started yet."
"Then consider it a rehearsal." As he spoke, he leaned down and kissed her soft lips.
Bai Yin was kissed breathless by him, pushing him away several times: "You just said you would hold me and help pick the stars in the sky for me right?"
"Mm."
"What would I do with stars, I can't eat them or use them. But if you want to give me Xingxin Media, I wouldn't refuse either." She made a tiny pinching motion with her fingers: "Not too much, just a tiny bit of shares would be good."
"Bai Yin, can you not understand that it's just a metaphor?"
"......"
Seeing that Chen Huaixiao and Bai Yin were actually kissing upstairs, question marks filled the screen—
"Sisters! What did the camera catch just now!"
"Damn, the president couple are kissing on the 2nd floor!"
"Don't worry, I screenshotted it, at 45 minutes 23 seconds."
"I deliberately rewinded to check, yes, the scale was huge, French style, sticking tongues out and all that."
"This couple really sticks together all the time."
"Wow, so sweet!"
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